How Important Is Physical Activity For Children's Health? Here's The Expert Opinion

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JAKARTA - SEANUTS II Indonesia researcher Dr. dr. Listya Tresnanti Mirtha, Sp.KO, KAPK reminded that in addition to sports, physical activity is also important for children to do to stay healthy and fit.

“In Indonesia, we usually only know the term sport. That actually there are three things that must be understood, namely physical activity, physical exercise, and sports. These three aim to reach a point of health and a point of fitness," said Listya or who is familiarly called Tata, citing Antara, Saturday, June 25.

“A healthy person is not necessarily fit. But someone who is fit is definitely healthy. And being fit can help optimize growth and development," he added.

Furthermore, he explained that cardio physical activity such as running can also affect children's muscle mass. Therefore, in addition to nutrition, children's physical activity must also be met according to the recommendations.

"Because after all cardio is the most important component. So he will provide oxygen supply everywhere first, will improve metabolism first, so that when he sees activities related to muscles he is much more optimal," explained Tata.

"So if the cardio is good, it's usually good for those related to muscles. But not the other way around," he added.

Unfortunately, he said that based on the results of the SEANUTS II study, based on gender, age, and region, children in Indonesia, especially Java and Sumatra, their physical activity is still below the recommendation.

"By knowing the physical activity carried out, the level of fulfillment can be calculated. So it turns out that here the level of physical activity carried out by children aged groups 7 to 9 based on gender is still at a low level," he concluded.